More on Tribal Tattoos

Tribal tattoos are most likely the most popular tattoo designs these days. These tattoos among their dark colors plus distinctive patterns create spectacular body artwork intended for both for men and women. These designs are geometrical with aggressive decorative lines that contain toothed sides. They are generally etched in shades of bold colors like black as well as blue. Tribal tattoos are unique in general and the artwork do not depict any explicit object. These patterns are simply curvy creative examples of inked artwork.

Tribal tattoos do not belong any certain culture and have principally originated from various tribes all over the world. Aztec tribal tattoos, Polynesian tribal tattoos Chinese tribal tattoos, Hawaiian tattoos, etc., are a few of the tattoos that fall into under tribal tattoo designs. At the present, let us encourage on to identify the significance of some of the tribal tattoo's meanings.

Tribal Band Tattoo Meanings

At one particular time in man's history it is thought that tribal people had these inked artwork on their bodies to represent the communal or spiritual rank among the tribes. Moreover, it is also thought that since there were so many dissimilar tribes, a tattoo might assist to identify a member belonging to a distinct tribe. Certain say that acquiring tribal ink art aided an person to link up with the same tribe following re-birth. While some believed that these inked skin art had several magical powers that were transferred to the inked artwork owner. Say, if an entity had a dragon tattoo, then it was supposed that the "tatua" bearer possessed the strength of a dragon. These days these translations are less significant and tribal tattoos are considered the same as a beautiful piece of art. Tatua is the Polynesian word for tattoo.

Tribal Band Tattoo Placement
These type of inked skin art are simply designs that wraps a particular part of one's body and provides a look of a bracelet or a neckband. As remarked earlier, band tattoos, typically refer to armband tatua designs that are carved on the upper arms. But these can additionally be carved to circle around the leg area above the ankles. Some individuals also get these tattoos around the fingers of the hand. Tribal band tattoos for guys are greater in magnitude and appear magnificent on well built biceps. While the tribal band tattoos for females are generally petite and have delicate designs. A tribal band tattoo that circles around the waist line looks very sensuous on women.

Tribal Band Tattoo Designs

When you are planning to have a tribal band tattoo, you have a choice of design alternatives furthermore you can choose the one that you like the most. You can pick a Hawaiian style design or a Celtic designed tattoo. If you desire to move for more unique design, then you can obtain a tribal tattoo in addition to your name in the center and a continuous chain like pattern surrounding it. You can also acquire your name inked on top of the band tattoo. Tribal zodiac tattoos are always in fashion and you include this in your design ideas. Tribal band tattoos with names are also extremely popular. Get your zodiac symbol inked in the midpoint and an appropriate band design carved around it.

How to Make Girly Tattoo Designs Sexy

It wasn't many years ago that tattoos were considered a man thing so girly tattoo designs weren't even in the mix. When we thought of tattoos we envisioned an outline of a shapely woman on the arm of a man and that was what would be thought of as girly tattoo designs, if even then that term existed. Other than that we often would notice other manly images and designs as tattoos on men.

This is a different time and girly tattoo designs are common, even to the extent that more women are being inked than men, and many times multiple times. Some tattoos on women are simply sexy and very attractive on the ladies; this is how I would define girly tattoo designs. You might add any design that will add to the feminine appeal of a woman.

Now that we have established what a girly tattoo design is, just how should you choose the right inking for you? I would suggest there are several issues to resolve in your mind before you come to a design decision. Let's consider some of these concerns;

1) Where do you want your tattoo on your body? Women commonly choose an area where the tattoo is sort of semi-visible, where the inking isn't easily seen. These areas are considered sexy, places such as the upper chest, ankle, lower back, shoulders and nape.

2) Once this choice has been made, now you need to consider the design. Girly tattoo designs are generally small and delicate and would include designs such as hearts, stars, floral designs, initials and small cartoon characters.

3) Next you should consider your color combination. Tattoos that are considered girly often make good use of color and shading elements and hardly ever will have the harshness of a tattoo that a man would have.

Girly tattoo designs are usually simple in design but don't interpret this to mean a woman sporting these designs is soft and the push over type. Actually it is very much the opposite; women who wear these sexy designs are usually independent, strong and highly fashionable.

Ask the advice of your family or a friend when considering your design. This makes it possible to create a design that you can own and one that will shed light on your personality. You should also consider online galleries since you will discover many designs and color combinations that you haven't thought of; combinations that have the potential to guide you in creating a real masterpiece to be proud of.

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great tattoo designs tribal tattoo and wings tattoo on side

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A Traditional Naval Tattoo on a 21st Century Ship

The USS New York was put into service today by the United States Navy.

Her hull was forged with steel salvaged from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

It's a momentous occasion indeed, and several crew members were in attendance with dignitaries earlier this week at the World Series.

As is happens, I noticed a gentleman in uniform outside of Madison Square Garden earlier in the week and he had this tattoo on both hands:


Turns out, the tattoo was modeled after this naval pin, which represents the rank of Boatswain's Mate, worn on the lapel:


The gentleman, whose name is Fred, serves on the USS New York, as the more commonly-known title of Ships Bos'n, and it seems appropriate to post this tattoo today as the ship officially enters the naval fleet.

Fred has been in the service for 26 years, and has seven or eight tattoos all told.

As Ships Bos'n he works with mission systems on amphibious maneuvers.

The crossed anchors are traditional naval insignia and, even though he drew this design himself and they weren't inked in a traditional tattoo shop, he recognizes the crossed anchors as symbols of his dedication to the trade.

I thank Fred for his service to our country, as well as his willingness to contribute to Tattoosday. We wish him well as he serves with pride on the USS New York!

Re-Post: Tattoos I Know - The Grim Reaper

Today is a sad anniversary for us here on Tattoosday, for it marks one year since our friend, Tom Wacker, passed away unexpectedly.

Tom was an early supporter of the blog, from its fledgling days as a once-a-week feature over on BillyBlog, and he watched us grow with a mixture of excitement and pride.

The camera I use was a birthday gift from Tom and his fiancee Sephora, and he was always first in line to see the pictures I took whenever I had new material for the blog.

A week or two before his death, Tom was hanging out at a friend's house in New Jersey. He took pictures of his friend's sleeve and e-mailed them to me. The photos are still in my mailbox, unposted. I still haven't the heart to call his friend and talk tattoo with him.

There are times I am hesitant to approach people, for whatever reason, and I overcome whatever resistance I may feel, knowing that's what Tom would have wanted me to do, and that somewhere, he is watching, urging me on, applauding my efforts, admiring the ink.

As a tribute to Tom, I am reposting his tattoo, which he shared with us here, back in 2007.

It's not the best tattoo, but it's Tom's, and his spirit is infused here in Tattoosday. It's the least I can do for the friend that supported us so much in the early days. Here's to you, Tom!


Tattoos I Know: The Grim Reaper (originally posted September 11, 2007)


This is the sole tattoo of my friend and co-worker, Tom Wacker.

Tom designed and drew the art upon which this tattoo was based.

The Reaper is posed on Tom's biceps/deltoid and has resided there since 1984, when its host was a young lad of eighteen.

This is Tom's only tattoo and he has no plans to get more. He is proud of the fact that, because he designed it and because he then tore up the original design, it is a one-of-a-kind piece...

The tattoo was inked by Dean at Lola's Tattoos, then in Cliffside Park, but now in Bogota, New Jersey. Tom got this tattoo "because it was cool," although the tattooer tried to convince him not to get it because it was "too mean" for him. Twenty-three years later, Tom says he has no regrets about his ink.

Thanks, Tom!

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eL's Musical tattoo

Last month, much to my surprise, our old friend Paul (see his most recent work here) told me there was a tattoo shop nearby.

I was surprised, to say the least. "New?" I asked him. "Been open over a year," he replied.

I was puzzled. How had I missed a tattoo shop within walking distance of work? Was I blind?

Not quite. I was just too busy looking around me, and not looking up.


Because Fort Apache Tattoo Studio is just a stone's throw away from my regular inkspotting stomping ground, at West 31st Street near the corner of 8th Avenue.

How I missed it was the fact that it peers out over the southwest corner of Madison Square Garden from the 4th floor. Four flights of old-style New York City stairs.

But once I made it up there, I was pleasantly surprised by the layout of the shop. Four artists have separate work areas separated by low walls.

While there, I met Freak, who specializes in custom designs with a comics influence.

Do check out the website to see everyone's work.

But another question arose, how had I gone for over a year with this shop in my backyard and never met anyone who had been tattooed there? Of the hundreds of people I have met, no one had shared any work from Fort Apache!

Until the next day.

Which brings me to the point of this post.

The following day I stopped to talk to a guy sitting on a bench at the corner of 7th Avenue and 33rd Street.

He had this cool tattoo on his upper right arm:


"And where did you have this done?" I asked.

Yup, Fort Apache.

(And thank you for sharing your post with my story about finally finding the shop, by the way.)

The owner of this tattoo is named eL. He is an artist and a guitarist.

The tattoo represents a scar from a bad break-up. Because of the central role of music in eL's life, it only made sense to represent the heartbreak with symbolism near and dear to eL's heart.

I asked if the notes actually made up a tune, but they do not. For aesthetic reasons, they are musical symbols inked in flesh, nothing more, nothing less.

This tattoo was done by Hexx.

Thanks to eL for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Also a thank you to Freak for welcoming us with open arms as we checked out the shop!

Here's hoping we'll see more work from Fort Apache in the future!

Danny's Incredible Tattoos

On occasion, I will wander from 7th Avenue to 8th Avenue, through the campus of F.I.T., hoping to spot some creative work. One of my first posts (documented here) featured tattoos from someone I met on that stretch of street.

Last month, I ran into Danny, who had several very nice tattoos.

First I took a picture of this hannya mask on his right forearm:


Then I snapped this photo of the tattoo above his right wrist:


This metal-plated heart represents Danny's emotional toughness, with a trace of sensitivity. In his words, "even if my heart is dead, it will still bleed".

I also took a photo of Danny's knuckles, which I wanted to post up on Knuckletattoos.com. However, since they're working on a six-month backlog, I thought I'd spare them the extra post and just share these here:


They read, of course, "HATE PAIN". This just represents what Danny was going through at the time he had his digits inked.

Initially, he had told me his back was done, but I didn't press him to show me the work. By the time I had taken pictures of his knuckles, I guess he felt comfortable enough to share this truly remarkable back piece:


All of his work was done by Thailand Mike at Scratch Tattoo in Elmhurst, Queens. He initially went to Mike for a cover-up on his back, providing just the central part of the design...


Danny visited from time to time for over a year, having elements of the back filled in. The demon head at the top of the back is particularly cool


and the dragon hovering above the wasitline is also impressive:


I rarely get to feature back pieces, as they have to be offered up by generous contributors, so when I see one, I am seldom disappointed.

Thanks again to Danny for sharing so much of his work with us here on Tattoosday!

Eddie Graces Egghead's Shoulder

I recently met a gentleman from England, along with his wife, as they were milling about outside of Madison Square Garden.

He referred to himself as "Egghead," I'm guessing due to his bald head. I first noticed the logo for the band Slayer on the back of his calf, along with several other interesting looking tattoos. He estimated he has about a dozen tattoos.

But, like the best Tattoosday stories, he shared this amazing tattoo on his right shoulder, hidden under a sweatshirt, which he pulled off so I could see it properly:


That's a phenomenal piece, courtesy of his artist Ben Boston at The Tattoo Studio in Bristol, England.



The tattoo is a likeness of Eddie, mascot for the band Iron Maiden, one of the premiere metal bands that came out of England in the late 1970's/early 1980's. I won't bore the reader with the catalog of my Iron Maiden fandom, but it certainly made the tattoo even that more wonderful for me.

I even had a nice chat with Egghead and his wife about concerts we had attended.

I thank Egghead for sharing this awesome tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Scott's Heart is Testament to Love and Hate

I met Scott last month as he was walking down 7th Avenue just south of 30th Street.

His only tattoo just jumped out from his right forearm:


He referred to this as a "time of my life" tattoo and it was "inspired by a horrible girlfriend".

It's also another example of someone wearing their heart on their sleeve.

He worked with the tattoo artist, Adam Rosenthal at the Th'ink Tank Tattoo in Denver to come up with a design that melded a biological heart with a Valentine's heart.

The heart is stitched together with a needle and thread. The thread spells out the words "love" and "hate," which exemplified the tumultuous relationship.


Thanks to Scott for sharing this tattoo with us here on Tattoosday!

Day of the Dead Special: Electrical Sugar Skull

I met Mike at the end of September, but have been hanging on to this post to share today, on the Day of the Dead:


I've posted numerous sugar skulls here (click this link to see all posts tagged as such), but this one is particularly interesting due to its proximity to the tattoo below, which is the logo for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), or the electrician's union, to which the contributor belongs.



The tattoos were done by Rob Hotte at the incomparable Lotus Tattoo in Sayville, New York.

For an extra El Día de los Muertos bonus, I encourage folks to check out my old friend Mike's Day of the Dead Mariachi troupe here.

As for this post, I thank Mike for sharing his incredible tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

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Extra bonus material:

About 2 months ago, a reader named Leslie sent me the following blurb:

Hi! I ... sent you a link to Albuquerque's Tinta Cantina - the shop does all kinds of work but they really do a lot of Day of the Dead stuff - in particular - look under the artist Jason. I do not work there, nor am I trying to promote them - I just think that the tattoos done here in New Mexico are quite different from the interpretations you show from the East Coast and that you might find it interesting.

Thanks to Leslie for sharing this link with us here on Tattoosday!

Halloween Bonus: Zombie Pinup

Back in September I posted Little Dead Riding Hood, courtesy of Amy, who I met in Penn Station.

Amy has a new tattoo, which she generously shared:


It's a zombie pin-up girl, and appropriate for the holiday today.

Like the previous piece, this was created by T.J. Mcinnis at Mcinnis Tattoo Company in Providence, Rhode Island.

Thanks again to Amy for sharing her tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

Have a safe and ghoulishly fun Halloween!

Choose the Right Tattoo

Matt has twenty-three (23) tattoos and he offered up this simple trio of letters:
The CTR represents the expression "Choose the Right," a common thread in the ideology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more commonly referred to as the Mormon church.

In essence, Matt explained, it means "follow the right path". Its akin to a mantra eschewing sinful activities frowned upon by the church like drinking alcohol, smoking cigarettes, doing drugs, and, yup, you guessed it: getting tattooed.

Matt finds great power in this tattoo because it represents an oxymoron: the letters CTR stand for a way of life that is contradicted by the fact that they have been tattooed on flesh. It would be like a Jewish person having the phrase, in Hebrew, "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or imprint markings upon you: I am the Lord" tattooed on them. As a tattooed Mormon, this is Matt's way of addressing,and coming to terms with, the disparity between faith and his love of tattoos.

This was tattooed by a friend of his in Ogden, Utah.

Thanks to Matt for sharing his ink with us here on Tattoosday!

Shiri's Logos

"Excuse me," I called, loudly, on the 34th Street train platform, "Can I ask you about your tattoo?"

Anyone reading this who has been featured here may recognize this as my opening salvo. Most people are open to my questions. Very few dismiss me. For this I am thankful.

Shira was the woman to whom I was speaking, and she was very welcoming to my inquiries.

Here is the best of the many tattoos I saw she had:


It's a fairly intricate (and extremely well-done) replica for one of the album designs for a band named Sponge. Shiri had a matching t-shirt, but taking a picture of that would have been borderline creepy, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the only image online I could find was small:


On her left arm she had two other band designs:


The one on the right is from the group Gogol Bordello, which surprised me as I had seen a similar tattoo several weeks before (and recounted here).


The logo on the left was from a group called Spookey Ruben.

Obviously, Shiri is a big fan of all these groups. The tattoos were all inked by her brother Ron.

You can see other band-related tattoos by clicking on the appropriate tag at the bottom of the post.

Thanks to Shiri for sharing her cool tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!

"You Gotta Go There to Come Back": Sarah Shares Three Tattoos

Sarah's half-sleeve jumped out at me in Penn Station as I was quietly bemoaning cooler weather and the dwindling of my blog backlog.

I was pleased to find Sarah more than accommodating, as she shared several perspectives of the ink tattooed on her upper right arm.

Visiting from Newcastle, Australia, her tattoos revolved around this piece at the center of her bicep:


I asked if there was any significance to these two women, but Sarah noted that they were just two pretty girls.

This fluid script is on the outside of her arm:


It states "You gotta go there to come back..." or, in her words, you have to "understand how shitty it can be, before how good it can get".

On her inner arm is the following tattoo:


Sarah says that this design of an angel on a cigarette break is based on the work of a popular London graffiti artist named "Banksy".


All of her work was done by Pat, the owner of 2012 Tattoo Studio in Newcastle.

Thanks very much to Sarah for sharing her incredible tattoos with us here on Tattoosday!